Made for Europe

Cost and risk-effective sourcing from new markets

Neutral, competent, cost-effective

You are planning to import? Fresh fruit and vegetables? Cut flowers? Technical wood? Natural ingredients for foods, pharmaceutics, cosmetics? We have the contacts you need and are at your side throughout the entire sourcing process.

We network you with the right exporters.

Accessing new sources of supply is labour intensive and time consuming. There are plenty of risks and unknowns. You  can reduce your initiation, agreement and control costs with the Import Promotion Desk. Gain certainty and time as we have the contacts, information and communication channels to your new foreign suppliers.

Hand in hand with the German private sector

The IPD is an initiative of the Federation of German Wholesale, Foreign Trade and Services (Bundesverband Großhandel, Außenhandel, Dienstleistungen e.V.) and sequa gGmbH – the development organisation of German industry. We are funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

IPD UPDATE Issue 1 // 2020

Focus: IPD partner country Nepal - Since 2015 IPD opens up access to the EU market for exporters from Nepal. The aim is to integrate Nepal into the global trade. Initially, IPD supported producers of natural ingredients in the Himalayan region. Today the new IPD focus is on the tourism sector.
Read more here.

News

IPD partner leverist.de connects companies with concrete business opportunities in developing and emerging countries. With the new Covid 19 topic page, leverist bundles concrete needs for companies and development cooperation. Further information here.

»Our recipe for success is to focus on sustainability«

Interview with Dr. Julia Hoffmann – Head of Import Promotion Desk
Dr. Julia Hoffmann explains why supporting exports is an essential instrument in international development cooperation and outlines the IPD’s strategy for opening up the German and European markets to developing countries.
Read the entire interview

»With the IPD we are closing a strategic gap at the interface of development cooperation and foreign trade: By eliminating trade barriers and information deficits, we contribute to the improved participation of emerging and developing countries in the global economy, but also support German SMEs in developing new procurement markets.«

Gregor Wolf
Federation of German Wholesale, Foreign Trade and Services (BGA)

»It is important for developing countries and emerging nations to integrate into international value chains and thus obtain access to new sales markets. This is where the IPD makes a valuable contribution: it opens the German and European market to producers from these regions.«

Anja Gomm
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

»Organisations such as the IPD are valuable tools for the economy not only in Germany but also in partner countries. The IPD provides German importers with information and connects them with suppliers. Even more important is the fact that the IPD and its partner organisations evaluate the suppliers and the information beforehand and therefore minimize the risk for European importers. For exporters from foreign countries, the IPD is an excellent platform to present their products and to get in contact to potential clients.«

Christian Körting Pacheco
Biomaderas GmbH

"One should think that with today's technical facilities it is easy to find new suppliers and customers in other countries. In reality,  this is a time-consuming and personnel-intensive effort. The IPD offers ideal networking opportunities in a wide range of sectors, facilitating, for instance in the wood sector, the establishment of new and safe commercial relationships with emerging and developing countries."

Nils Olaf Petersen
Gesamtverband Deutscher Holzhandel e.V.

»The import of food as a primary commodity for the processing industry up to the final product plays a vital role when it comes to enabling consumers to choose from a variety of tasty and safe foods. An interface such as the IPD promotes and supports business contacts between importers and exporters and thus creates an ideal platform for mutual trade relationships which are the foundation for a diverse and healthy food supply.«

Dr. Helena Melnikov
Waren-Verein der Hamburger Börse e.V.

»Exporters from emerging markets and developing countries and importers from Europe depend on all types of support from associations, Chambers of Industry and Commerce and other BMOs.The IPD is another useful tool to bring partners from Germany and abroad together.«

Hans Udo Bürk
Biotropic GmbH

»Numerous companies from the German nutrition industry depend on the import of high-quality food products.  Many of these raw materials cannot be grown in Germany at all or only to an insufficient extent. The Import Promotion Desk can play an important role in the establishment of a mutually satisfactory collaboration between food importers from Germany and reliable food exporters from selected commodity markets.«

Olivier Kölsch
Bundesvereinigung der Deutschen Ernährungsindustrie e.V.

News

Berlin // 07.02.2020
ITB 2020: Sustainable travel offers from developing and emerging countries
 
Berlin // 07.02.2020

ITB 2020: Sustainable travel offers from developing and emerging countries

Import Promotion Desk supports exhibitors from Ecuador, Nepal and Tunisia at ITB 2020
Bonn/Berlin, 04.02.2020 – Sustainable tourism offers from selected emerging and develop-ing countries are in the focus of the trade fair presentation of the Import Promotion Desk (IPD) at the ITB 2020. The German initiative for import and tourism promotion will present new tour operators from Ecuador, Tunisia and Nepal at the international tourism trade fair, taking place in Berlin from 4 to 8 March. The travel offers particularly consider aspects of sustainability and environmental and social compatibility. They range from ecological tours in the unknown north of Tunisia to bicycle tours in Nepal and the community-based tourism project Yunguilla in Ecuador. Around 20 travel companies from the three developing countries will be represented at the IPD stand (hall 5.2A | stand 113) and at the country stands of Ecuador (hall 23A | stand 110) and Tunisia (hall 21B | stand 216/217).

Press release: Sustainable travel offers from developing and emerging countries
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187 KB PDF
Bonn/Nürnberg // 27.01.2020
BIOFACH 2020: IPD presents coconut specialities from Sri Lanka
 
Bonn/Nürnberg // 27.01.2020

BIOFACH 2020: IPD presents coconut specialities from Sri Lanka

IPD supports exhibitors from Sri Lanka and ten more partner countries at Biofach.

Bonn/Berlin, 27.01.2020 – At this year’s Biofach the product variety of the coconut palm is presented by exhibitors from Sri Lanka: They are bringing a variety of coconut specialities such as dried coconut, virgin coconut oil, coconut blossom sugar, coconut butter, coconut flour, coconut milk and coconut water to the world's leading trade fair for organic food, which takes place in Nuremberg from February 12 to 15. Further highlights from Sri Lanka are spices such as Ceylon cinnamon and different varieties of pepper, as well as essential oils. Besides the exhibitors from Sri Lanka, the Import Promotion Desk (IPD) supports exporters from Colombia, Côte d´Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ecuador, Ghana, Indonesia, Kyrgyz-stan, Tunisia and Ukraine. They will be presenting their regional specialities in organic qual-ity at the joint stand of IPD and the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) (Booth 3A | 3A-220) as well as at the national pavilions.

Press release: Biofach 2020 - IPD presents coconut specialities from Sri Lanka
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189 KB PDF
Bonn/Berlin // 15.01.2020
Fruit Logistica 2020: Pitahayas, Physalis & Co. - Ecuador convinces with fruity variety
 
Bonn/Berlin // 15.01.2020

Fruit Logistica 2020: Pitahayas, Physalis & Co. - Ecuador convinces with fruity variety

Import Promotion Desk (IPD) supports exporters from Ecuador and seven more partner countries at the international trade fair for fruits and vegetables

Bonn/Berlin, 16.01.2020 – Ecuador is known for its biodiversity and offers a wide range of tropical fruits. The South American country lives up to its reputation at this year's Fruit Logistica, which takes place in Berlin from 5. to 7. of February. With bananas, pineapples, pitahayas, physalis and passionfruit, the exhibitors present a richly filled fruit basket (Hall
21 Booth B‐06). Import Promotion Desk (IPD), the German initiative for import promotion, has been supporting the partner country of this year's Fruit Logistica for two years now, and
accompanies producers to the European market. This year the IPD brings six companies from Ecuador to the international trade fair. In total, over 40 companies from eight IPD partner countries ‐ from Egypt, Ethiopia, Ecuador, Côte d`Ivoire, Ghana, Colombia, Peru and the Ukraine ‐ will present their range of fresh fruits and vegetables in Berlin.

Press release: IPD at Fruit Logisitca 2020
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200 KB PDF

Events

Trade fair in Nantes
Carrefour International du Bois - new date!
 
Trade fair in Nantes

Carrefour International du Bois - new date!

Due to the continuing spread of the coronavirus Sars-CoV-2, the leading trade fair for wood processing - the Carrefour International du Bois - has been postponed. The new date is now 03. - 05.02.2021. 

IPD will present selected wood suppliers from Ecuador and Colombia at the fair. Our reliable partners will bring a wide product portfolio of teak and bamboo to the fair. 

All companies were visited and carefully checked by IPD in advance. Criteria such as product quality, exportability and capacity as well as access to and use of legal timber from sustainable sources were taken into account. 

For more information please contact

Frank Maul

www.timbershow.com

Buying mission to Ukraine // 16.08. - 22.08.2020
Still scheduled: Buying mission to Ukraine: Fresh fruit & vegetables
 
Buying mission to Ukraine // 16.08. - 22.08.2020

Still scheduled: Buying mission to Ukraine: Fresh fruit & vegetables

The IPD is closely following the developments surrounding the COVID-19 epidemic. At this time we still assume that the buying mission to Ukraine will take place. We will keep you informed about the current status.

International buying: Meet reliable suppliers directly on site. 

The Ukraine is among the world’s largest agricultural producers with over 70 percent of its area used for agriculture. 56 percent of the land consists of black-earth soil, the richest and most fertile soil on earth. This nutrient-laden base together with the favourable conditions offer the best conditions for a rich product range. In particular, the Ukraine also provide organically produced goods with high export quality.
Find out more about the quality of the Ukrainian products on site.

We are organising a buying mission to the Ukraine from the 16th to the 22nd of August 2020. We will arrange visits to carefully selected fruit and vegetable exporters for you. Whether blueberries, apples, peaches, watermelons or products such as onions, mushrooms, tomatoes and sweet potatoes – the variety of our exporters is wide and of high quality.

All companies have been visited and carefully evaluated by IPD and its partners. We consider criteria such as product quality, exportability and capacity as well as the fulfilment of international standards and certifications.

Your benefits

  • Individually arranged company visits to carefully selected exporters
  • Visiting the production facilities and checking product quality directly on the spot
  • Meeting reliable suppliers – tailored to your requirements: We inform you in advance, which suppliers offer your desired product.
  • Exchange and networking with other European buyers and traders

Use the buying mission to expand your supplier network. 

Registration deadline: 29 th May 2020
The number of participants is limited, so we recommend an early registration.

For further information and regsitration please contact:

Linda Mense

Invitation Buying Mission Ukraine
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840 KB PDF
Buying missions // Dates on request
Buying missions – individually organised to your requirements
 
Buying missions // Dates on request

Buying missions – individually organised to your requirements

Lower your sourcing costs!

Are you looking for a specific product? And you don’t know yet from where, from whom?
You are interested in importing products from Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Nepal, Peru, Kyrgyzstan, Colombia or Tunisia? But you lack contacts to suitable exporters?
Finding reliable suppliers takes time and costs money.

The IPD supports you to reduce this effort andopens up new foreign supply sources.
We organize buying missions individually arranged for you – fully tailored to your needs.

You tell us your demands. We identify suitable exporters in our partner countries and
arrange – in consultation with you –  visits to carefully selected companies.

All suppliers are visited by us in advance and evaluated according to strict criteria, including product quality, export capacities, compliance with international standards and certifications etc.  

Your benefits:
•    Direct contact to thoroughly tested exporters – selected according to your requirements
•    Inspection of product quality and production conditions directly on the spot.
•    Tailored-made b2b meetings.

Take advantage of our offer. Save time and reduce your risk!
We look forward to providing you with detailed information about our services.

Get in touch with us!

IPD Partner leverist.de supports during Corona crisis
 

IPD Partner leverist.de supports during Corona crisis

leverist.de connects companies with concrete business opportunities in developing and emerging countries. On the new Covid-19 topic page, companies and development cooperation can publish their concrete needs and solutions in the current crisis. Companies from all over the world can find these needs and get in touch directly with the respective contact persons.
Please find more information HERE.

Publications

Success Story
Organic peanuts from Egypt
 
Success Story

Organic peanuts from Egypt

Import Promotion Desk assists African growers in exporting ecological products

African countries offer a wide variety of top-quality products for which there is great demand on the EU market. Import Promotion Desk (IPD) introduces selected suppliers of organic foods to European traders. The Egyptian exporter Logistic Nuts for Agricultural Development is a new supplier which, with assistance from the IPD, has converted to ecological farming and is now capturing the market with organic peanuts.

Organic peanuts from Egypt
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666 KB PDF
Success Story
Pure oils from Ethiopian medicinal plants
 
Success Story

Pure oils from Ethiopian medicinal plants

Import Promotion Desk makes EU market accessible for African producers

With support from the IPD, Ethiopian company Hayat Cosmo Industry PLC was able to present its products from pure black cumin oil at European trade fairs. The trade fair success encouraged Hayat to expand its offerings to European customers, so that the company now also produces essential oils. Investment in the new product developments has paid off for the Ethiopian company: At in-cosmetics trade fair in Paris, Hayat successfully presented its new product range for the first time.

Pure oils from Ethiopia
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983 KB PDF
Success Story
Tropical timber from sustainably managed forests
 
Success Story

Tropical timber from sustainably managed forests

IPD OPENS UP NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR PERUVIAN TIMBER EXPORTERS ON THE EU MARKET

The tropical rainforest is at risk from overexploitation and fire clearance, and this has brought trading in tropical timber into disrepute. Timber companies from countries like Peru therefore encounter difficulties in exporting their tropical wood products to the EU market. They are supported by the Import Promotion Desk (IPD), the precondition being that their timber is verifiably sourced from legal and sustainable forestry. Maderacre Rio Acre SAC is a company that meets the criteria of the FSC, demonstrating in practice that responsible forest management can help to protect the rainforest.

IPD Success Story Tropical timber
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1 MB PDF

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